EL BANO DEL PAPA (THE POPE’S TOILET)

Uruguay, 2007, 97 minutes, Colour.
Cesar Troncoso, Virginia Mendez, Mario Silva, Virginia Ruiz.
Directed by Cesar Charlone and Enrique Fernandez.

Not the Pope’s own toilet!

Rather, the toilets needed in an Uruguayan town for people attending the ceremonies during a papal visit.

On the one hand, this is an amusing story of poor people in the town of Melo, many of whom make their living by venturing across the border to Brazil and smuggling goods back into Uruguay, dependent on the needs and whims of the black marketeers and shopkeepers (and random confiscations by border guards).

On the other hand, this is quite a sardonic take on the impact of papal visits and the question about their immediate effect and their lasting effects. Just what will a papal discourse on the dignity of work delivered in the context of papal robes and political dignitaries do for the workers.

The characters in Melo, May 1988, are an earthy lot. They have little scruple about their trade and have devised ways of beating the law, especially with alternate routes, hiding from inspection and concealing the most valuable commodities. But, this is a hard Latin American way of life, no easy ways. The smuggling is done on the backs of pushbikes as the men dream of enough money to buy motor-bikes.

The central character, a smuggling expert with a hard-working and devoted wife, wants the best for his daughter. But, she dreams of going away to study to become a radio announcer. Will this ever be possible?

With the news that the Pope will come to Melo on 8th May to deliver his discourse about work, dreams of capitalising on the promised influx of Brazilian pilgrims to hear the Pope become more and more fervid and ambitious. (The Pope did actually go to Melo on that day and the film uses archival footage of John Paul II and the events; the text of his speech can be found on the Vatican website for papal visits by clicking on that date.)

While most think food and drink for the hungry and thirsty and are cooking huge quantities of food, preparing their stands and looking at the television promises of huge estimates of visitors (and gloating), our hero (who prides himself on wearing his thinking cap) gets the brainwave: toilets and a charge for their use. So, all his efforts (and all his extra ‘trips’ into Brazil) go into clearing the ground for the toilet, buying a stylish wooden door and, eventually, a bowl.

And the effect of the papal visit?

The question left for viewers of the film is: should the papal visit be an occasion for a commercial bonanza and/or or a pastoral experience, especially for the poor and the workers?

1.The appeal of the film: the characters, the village life, the poor and the workers, the papal event, hopes?

2.The film as a critique of papal visits, the pope’s speech, the picture of the people, the effect on the poor?

3.Life in the village, the feel, the 1980s, the bicycles, on the open roads, the ventures into Brazil, the border, the guards, homes, the shops, the way of life? The workers and the poor?

4.The facts of the papal visit, the 8th of May 1988, the visit to Melo? The pope received by the dignitaries? Delivering his speech, leaving? The pomp of the visit? The dignitaries?

5.Beto and his life as a smuggler, hiding from the guards, paying the guards, the various ‘troops’? His relationship with Carmen, his love for her, the day-to-day life? His love for Sylvia? At home, Carmen and her managing? Beto and his friends, the drink? The subservience to the bosses?

6.Carmen and Sylvia, at home, work, Sylvia listening to the radio, wanting to study, wanting to be a news reader, the difficulties with money, her father using her funds to buy the toilet?

7.Beto and his various friends, the smugglers’ community, their wives, the visits, chatting?

8.The television, the announcer, the information about the papal visit, the expectations of visitors from Brazil? Hundreds of thousands?

9.The preparation of the food, the frenzy, making various dishes, the cooking, storing them, preparing the stands?

10.The motivation of the people, some financial gain, some hope, exploiting the papal visit?

11.The issue of the toilet, Beto and his bright idea? Clearing the space, the building? Going to the shop for the fashionable door? Looking at the toilet bowls, wanting the pink bowl?

12.The extra trips, the guards, the confiscations, the bike and its breakdown, finally getting the bowl, arriving late, getting the lift from the boss?

13.Rehearsing with Carmen and Sylvia of how to deal with the customers for the toilet, Carmen and her awkwardness? The toilet ready – but too late?

14.The intercutting of the papal discourse with the scenes of the village, the people with their stalls, their hopes? The words of the speech compared with the reality? The pope not meeting the workers?

15.The disappointment of the small crowds, their going past the stands and not buying, the village people trying to cajole them into buying, the result?

16.The bittersweet experience – humour and critique?